Building a strong corporate culture takes more than just a mission statement.

Corporate cultures are built through a constant and consistent effort to indoctrinate employees. This creates values that lead to a pattern of behavior. Achieving this goal depends on communicating these values to new employees, as well as reinforcing the practice of them among veteran staff members. Internal websites, newsletters, and achievement boards are some effective ways. Sponsoring events that emphasize professional development, charitable giving and teamwork are others. But we’d like to suggest another communication strategy that is popular among companies serious about building and maintaining a strong culture, a Corporate Display Wall.

During the course of building Crux Creative, several of our clients have put an emphasis on a strong corporate culture. This is communicated internally as well as externally through Corporate Display Walls. There are several variations or even combinations of a Corporate Display Wall. Corporate History Walls are a company’s legacy that links to the past and bridges to the future. Donor Recognition Walls honor those that have provided financial resources that have enabled a company to continue to achieve its mission. Product Display Walls showcase an organization’s outstanding products and services. Corporate Community Walls highlights a company’s contribution to and relationship with its local community and Employee Recognition Walls highlight employee achievements. Each of these creates a sense of pride, loyalty, and commitment to the values and goals of the corporate organization.

According to Larry Alton, commentator and blogger on changes in the American workplace, the role corporate culture plays in businesses has never been greater. A similar argument is made by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their modern business classic, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. Collins and Porras studied and described the characteristics of 18 top US companies that remained the leaders in their industries for over 50 years. All of these companies were able to communicate their core principles to their employees in ways that solidified and strengthened their culture. This, in turn, enabled them to enjoy five valuable benefits.

Here’s how developing a strong culture can help your company to do the same

1. It gives you an identity that stands out clearly from the competition. Your brand isn’t only reflected in your products and service but also in how your employees develop, produce and sell those products.

2. It attracts better talent. The “best” people want to work for the “best” companies – that’s why maintaining a consistent and positive brand and culture is so important.

3. It builds employee pride and loyalty. A well-developed corporate culture makes your staff feel that they belong to an admired group and enhances loyalty to that organization. In a recent Columbia University study that showed the turnover in companies with rich corporate cultures is only 13.9 percent compared to 48.4 percent in companies with a poorer culture.

4. It’s valued by the Millennial generation. Millennials want and expect to join organizations where the culture is positive and well-defined. Since this group is the driving force of the future, taking their preferences into account is just good business sense.

5. It raises awareness of a company brand as nothing else can. In these days of heightened competition, having such an edge can make all the difference between success and failure.

Here’s how they can be realized through a history wall

Writing for the Harvard Business Review, John Coleman, co-author of Passion and Purpose: Stories from the Best and the Brightest Young Business Leaders, suggests these six components to a great corporate culture:

Vision – a clear, concise description of the company’s purpose that is exemplified by how it treats customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

Values – are the core of a company’s culture. What is if for? What is it against?

Practices – determine how are these values realized day to day.

People – a key component to building a strong culture is in recruiting and hiring people who are not only good at their jobs but personally support the core values of the company as well.

Narrative – how a company communicates its core beliefs determines how well it can raise awareness and loyalty to its culture. Each company has a story behind its founding that can be told in many different formats. Furthermore, it should be told often because with each telling it becomes more powerful and influential.

Place – the physical space that workers occupy including how they connect with each other or are set apart influences how they work with each other. The décore of that space such as a history wall does this as well.

What is your company’s story?

Tell it in a space that is seen by your visiting clients, potential clients and everyone in your company. Let Crux Creative show you how to transform a part of your workspace into a visual representation of your company’s mission, achievements, and goals. We’re sure you’ll find it well worth the investment for your brand, your employees and your company’s future success.